Technologies

PlayStation Portal Can Stream Your PS5 Games Without a PS5 Now

A new cloud streaming update opens up games from your own library with a subscription, even without a PS5 being turned on. Is this a small step to a future PlayStation handheld?

Handheld game consoles are seeing a wild evolution lately, from the Nintendo Switch 2 to PC handhelds running Windows and Steam. Meanwhile, Sony’s almost-standalone two-year-old handheld, the PlayStation Portal, is getting an update that frees it up from the PlayStation 5 for cloud streaming PS5 games, provided you have the right subscription. It’s getting 3D audio support for streaming games, too.

It still won’t play downloaded games offline, though. The Portal is a streaming-only handheld, but this new update looks to make it feel a lot more like a second device than a PlayStation 5 accessory. And it raises a question: Will Sony eventually make a true handheld of its own?

«The Portal is part of the PS5 family, and it continues to be a complementary device for a console not really a standalone yet,» Takuro Fushimi, Sony’s PlayStation senior manager of product management, told me over video chat. But the streaming update could let someone with one account play PS5 games while someone else played on an another account on the PS5, so it’s definitely becoming more untethered. The Portal is also currently Sony’s top-used device for streaming PS5 games, even over phones and tablets, Fushimi said, although specific sales numbers weren’t shared.

Streaming with a subscription: Works like it does on the PS5

The new cloud streaming update is the first time Sony’s considering it out of beta since the feature emerged in 2024. Previously, the Portal could cloud-stream a selection of older games via a PlayStation Plus subscription in addition to streaming games from a synced PlayStation 5.

Now, a subset of owned PlayStation 5 games will also get full cloud-streaming support without needing the PS5 to be turned on at all. The game library support matches what’s already possible on PS5 already, and the new streamable games will be laid out in a new interface.

You need a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription to get access to these streamable games, though, which costs $18 a month or $160 a year.

How it’s different from other ways to play PlayStation games on the go

The Portal and the PS5 are the only two consoles that have PS5 cloud streaming support, but phones and tablets can remote-play locally streamed games on a PlayStation 5 using an app which works with game controllers. There are some PlayStation games that are on Steam and can be played on Steam Decks and Windows game handhelds, too.

The Portal has its own advantages, though. The adaptive force-feedback triggers and vibrating haptics mirror the DualSense controller’s feel, something you can’t get otherwise. The new software update also supports 3D audio with plugged-in headphones or wireless Pulse headsets paired with Portal. But it’s still a streaming-only device.

Could Sony have a true handheld next?

The Portal’s evolution keeps making me wonder whether we’ll see a true handheld standalone successor to the PSP and PS Vita. I asked Fushimi about Sony’s stance in handhelds now compared to the rest of the evolving landscape. «We have our own sort of way of thinking about handheld,» Fushimi said. «The streaming and remote play is the way we went to offer that immersion and quality of the PS5 family as a whole for this device.»

So yes, it’s still a PS5 accessory. But it’s closer than ever to being a handheld of its own.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.

Green group hint: End user or customer.

Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.

Purple group hint: Not noisy.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Fixed.

Green group: Receiver of goods or services.

Blue group: Starting with weather conditions.

Purple group: Silent ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is fixed. The four answers are fast, firm, secure and tight.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is receiver of goods or services. The four answers are account, client, consumer and user.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is starting with weather conditions. The four answers are frosty (frost), mistletoe (mist), rainmaker (rain) and snowman (snow).

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is silent ____. The four answers are auction, movie, partner and treatment.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 14, #1670

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 14, No. 1,670.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a tough one, with a letter that is rarely used and which I just never guess. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has three vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with A.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with D.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can mean to keep away from something or someone.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is AVOID.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 13, No. 1669 was GUMBO.

Recent Wordle answers

Jan. 9, No. 1665: EIGHT

Jan. 10, No. 1666: MANIC

Jan. 11, No. 1667: QUARK

Jan. 12, No. 1668: TRIAL

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription

Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.

Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.

The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.

While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.

What the Creator Studio bundle comes with

The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.

Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.

Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.

A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.

Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.